City of Ashes by Cassandra Clare (The Mortal Instruments #2)

Original title: City of Ashes

Year published: 2008

Published by: Walker Books

Number of pages: 411

First sentence: “The formidable glass-and-steel structure rose from its position on Front Street like a glittering needle threading the sky.”

Plot: Clary Fray just wishes that her life would go back to normal. But what's normal when you're a demon-slaying Shadowhunter, your mother is in a magically induced coma, and you can suddenly see Downworlders like werewolves, vampires, and faeries? If Clary left the world of the Shadowhunters behind, it would mean more time with her best friend, Simon, who's becoming more than a friend. But the Shadowhunting world isn't ready to let her go — especially her handsome, infuriating, newfound brother, Jace. And Clary's only chance to help her mother is to track down rogue Shadowhunter Valentine, who is probably insane, certainly evil — and also her father.

To complicate matters, someone in New York City is murdering Downworlder children. Is Valentine behind the killings — and if he is, what is he trying to do? When the second of the Mortal Instruments, the Soul-Sword, is stolen, the terrifying Inquisitor arrives to investigate and zooms right in on Jace. How can Clary stop Valentine if Jace is willing to betray everything he believes in to help their father?

(Plot taken from Goodreads)

My thoughts: First off, let me just say that I liked this book a lot better than the first one, probably because there were no movie connections to be made here. This was a really good thing and it meant that I could actually enjoy the book, which I did, very much.

A lot of things happen in this book, a lot of life changing things, for some people at least. Can we just take a minute to appreciate Simon? I mean what he goes through in this book and still he’s there for Clary. Simon, I love you.  Then there’s Jace, whom I of course also love but that’s beside the point. He is so hateable in this book, but still I have a lot of sympathy for him. He makes me so mad with his “no I can’t hate my father” crap, ugh. Seriously it is perfectly alright to hate Valentine, I sure as hell do. Say it with me: “I HATE VALENTINE”. There, that wasn’t so hard was it. The whole Valentine situation is so infuriating. Tricking Clary and Jace into believing they’re siblings is just horrible. They are so obviously in love with each other and it just makes reading most of the book weird, it makes me uncomfortable. Especially when they’re with the faerie Queen and she makes them kiss. I was screaming, really. Like why in the bloody hell would they react to each other that way physically if they truly believe that they are brother and sister? It makes no sense. And poor Simon. I feel so bad for him, although he seems okay with everything by the end of the book.

Also there’s Luke, who really steps up in this book. I love Luke. He’s such a nice guy and the way Clary’s like: “you’re not my father, Luke is” aaaaaaah, I loved that.

One thought that stuck with me while reading the book was:  “When the hell is it time for Jocelyn to wake up?” and by the end of this book we get an answer, maybe. So I can’t wait to get started on ‘City of Glass’.

And why didn't Imogen Herondale get to finish telling Jace the truth? Gaaaah! How long am I going to have to wait for Jace to finally know the truth. This is driving me crazy!

I love the Shadowhunter world. If I could I’d probably be one, that or a warlock, with a nice mark like Magnus’ eyes and not horns or green skin.

Do I recommend it? Yep.

Goodreads rating 4/5

Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare ( The Infernal Devices #1)

Original title: Clockwork Angel

Year published: 2011

Published by: Walker Books Ltd

Number of pages: 488

First sentence: “The demon exploded in a shower of ichor and guts”

Plot: Tessa Gray arrives in London after being summoned there by her brother Nate. However, everything is not as it seems and Tessa soon learns that not only is she different but that there are people looking to use her for purposes unknown. Drawn into a world she never knew existed she finds allies in the most unlikely people and uncovers secrets that would perhaps have been better kept secret. Tessa is beginning to realize that her life changed as soon as she stepped of that boat.

My thoughts: I have to admit that I was a bit put off in the beginning, because of my experiences with Clare’s other books, namely one, I never actually got past that one. The particular book was “City of Bones” the first in her Mortal Instruments series. But I’ve realized that there wasn’t actually anything wrong with the book, I didn’t like it because somehow it was spoiled for me. Anyway back to the book at hand. I absolutely loved this book. I loved being transported back to a 19^th century London and all that it entails. I love the characters, especially Tessa, even though I don’t care much for how she thinks that women shouldn’t fight. The character of Will Herondale is disturbingly alike the character of Jace Wayland/Morganstern/Herondale or whatever the hell his name is these days. I have a love/hate relationship towards both characters although I don’t believe I was ever this enraged with Jace. The last scene between Tessa and Will had me screaming, literally. I was so mad at Will that I got mad at myself for actually being mad at a fictional character, it was rather confusing. 

Moving on to a character that is much more lovable, Jem. Oh god, I thought I wouldn’t like Jem, but I did. Where Will is obviously sarcastic Jem is more subtle in his sarcasm and he is much more gentlemen like. His appearance confused me a bit but I think that maybe that was the idea. I can’t get a picture of Jem in my mind like I can with most of the other characters and that’s sad because I really would have wanted to. I do however like the way his voice sounds in my head, all calm and collected.

There were of course many other characters in the book but I won’t go in to detail on those. All I’m going to say is that they all complemented each other well.

I have a feeling that we’re in for a love triangle with next book. I’m not sure if I like that or not. I tend steer clear of love triangles, “Twilight” has forever scarred me. But I guess I’ll just have to wait and see. I will read the next book because I really want to learn more about Tessa and her past and the reason why she is the way she is. I also want to see the relationship between her and Jem evolve, I’m not saying it will be but I’m hoping. Right now I just want her to forget about Will because I hate him so much. But I’m sure I’ll change my mind and be back to loving him soon enough.

Do I recommend this book? God yes! Please read it!